Layla Grace sadly lost her battle to cancer on Tuesday, March 9. She was 2 years old.
Layla’s story touched our hearts and we wish to share it with all of you. The following is from LaylaGrace.org, which tell the story of this beautiful little girl.
“Layla has always been a healthy child, 80th percentile for weight, a great eater, a great sleeper. She is sweet as pie and a little cuddle monkey (she won’t let you put her down!). She has a very advanced vocab for her age which really helps us manage her pain and give her what she needs as her care continues.
Layla had a great 15 month checkup. At around 16 months her sleep habits and appetite started to change and she started to become more irritable. Mid March appetite began to decrease. At the time we thought we were dealing with a “picky eater”. Beginning of May Layla woke up one morning with a swollen eye. We took her to the doctor and she was treated for an ear infection and the doctor said the swelling was just a result of the ear infection. At the same time we noted that her belly was hard and somewhat distended. She had not had a bowel movement for a few days and we were concerned that she was becoming constipated.
The next day we took her to the pediatrician who put her on Mirilax over the weekend and told us to call back Monday. By Monday morning she was not eating at all, still no dirty diaper, her activity level had decreased and was rubbing her belly and lower back and saying “owie”.
Our pediatrician referred us to a GI specialist to see why she was so constipated and wasn’t eating. On Thursday May 7th as we sat in GI specialists office expecting to be told that Layla would need some kind of treatment for constipation we instead hear words like “Cancer” and “Leukemia”. A series of X-rays and tests were ordered and we were sent home to wait on the results.
That evening about five minutes after we walked in the door we got an urgent call from the GI specialist telling us that the test results were in, that things were not good and that we were to bring Layla into the ER immediately and that a team of doctors would be waiting for us.
Layla has a massive cancerous tumor (Stage 4 Neuroblastoma) in her abdomen. It extends from above her left kidney, around her side, over her belly and wraps around her aorta. In addition, the cancer is in her bone marrow.
Our sweet Layla went from normal happy and healthy to lethargic, in pain, and skin and bones in a matter of a week and a half.”
Layla touched many hearts as her story grew more and more popular through Twitter, which her Mom and Dad updated regularly. Some of you may have heard the painful story on your local radio station, as Layla’s mom wanted to spread the story of what her daughter went through in hopes to reach people’s awareness. And knowing that her daughter has touched the lives of so many, means that her life was not in vain.
Donations that were accepted on Layla’s behalf for medical care will still go to help her family with the costly bills, and if there is any money left over, it will be donated to help the research of curing cancer.
Life is precious and shorter than we realize. Stop and take the time to tell loved ones how much they mean to you. And if you can, donate your time or money to help stop this miserable disease that takes so many from us too early. Like a shirt we saw little Layla wearing- “Cancer Sucks”.
We here at Celebug would like to offer our condolences to family and friends of little Layla Grace. Our prayers are with you during this difficult time.
She was a beautiful little girl. Although I did not know her nor do I know Layla’s family, I am deeply saddened byt the loss this world had yesterday.